banner jams up in my 310

HP Latex 310

I just got a new latex 310. Each time I try to print a banner it folds up under the drying area. This even happens with the takeup reel running. I was using the generic pvc banner profile.i cloned that profile and turned the heat down to 225. Still not working. It seems the takeup reel draws the slack out but not fast enough.

The problem is that the warm banner will not slide smooth enough over the metal bottom plate in the drying area. I have solved that with using - in addition to the tension bar of the take-up - putting 2 full 1.5l-Water Bottles into the media loop.

Another possibility could be to put a bar of carton to cover the metal plate.

You are right about the influence of the curing temperature, the lower the better. May we know which banner media are you using? No profile available? Cloning the PVC banner and turning it down to 225oF (110oC) is OK but some banners need even less temperature to operate, try to decrease it as much as possible down to 195oF (90oC) if no curing issue is found. Remember that increasing passes will help you to work at lower temperatures w/o curing issues.

If the issue persists with this particular banner I would recommend you to escalate this case directly to support in order to get a more personalized help.

It would be a good idea thinking about how to modify the metal platen in the drying zone. As long as printing on the media is not affected, it is really annoying to reduce heat just because the banner is not able to slide smoothly over that part.

I have had this issue in the L360 when the ambient temperature and humidity are very high in the room where the printer is located. My correction has been to use the fabric pads that come with the L360 meant to use with the mesh kit.

In using these with the banner, the "stickyness" goes away instantly. No need to even use the takeup reel to run the sticky banners.

I have attached a picture of the box they come in with the HP part number on it. They "should" fit the 310 and the 330 (with a bit of tinkering/trimming for the 310). They have a tab towards the back that is held in the gap between the platen and the dryer.

In case the picture isn't clear, the part number seems to be B4H70-60066

The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP.